This invention arose from a chance combination of two distinct types of cheese during their separate manufacture by conventional processes. The resulting blend of the two cheeses was discovered to produce a novel cheese having its own unique taste and consistency characteristics. These characteristics were not expected or anticipated, based on existing knowledge of the normal characteristics of the cheeses typically produced from the curds used within it.
There are a number of currently available cheese products which include discrete zones having contrasting or complementary cheese characteristics. The discrete zones within such cheese products typically have contrasting colors, which present a desirable visual effect.
Cheese produced with discrete zones of differing cheese characteristics have, to the best of the knowledge of the inventors, always comprised blends of cheese curds produced by similar cheese processes. For example, such a cheese might be produced from two different types of cheddared or milled curds. Alternately, cheeses have been produced by blending two distinct forms of stirred curds. The inventors are unaware of any prior method for combining dissimilar cheeses, such as a milled curd cheese and a stirred curd cheese.
A specific example of a method for making cheese having discrete zones of different characteristics is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,298,618 to Peterson, issued Nov. 3, 1981. The disclosed method relates to a single vat process, in which two distinguishable masses of stirred curd are produced at opposite sides of a partition. The settled and stirred curds are subsequently mixed with one another, salted, formed, pressed and packaged. Because the curd to one side of the partition is colored differently from that to the remaining side, the resulting cheese has discrete zones of contrasting colors, as well as a mixing of two cheese components with differing taste characteristics.
Where blended cheese products are produced from two types of milled curds or from two types of cut stirred curds, it has been found difficult to handle and store the cheese so as to insure that the discrete particles of the two cheese components will not crumble or separate when cut. Since the curd pieces are simply united by pressure, they often are readily separated by the cutting pressure encountered while drawing a knife or wire through the cheese when serving it. The curd pieces are typically not thoroughly knitted to one another. This tendency to crumble when cut is also inherent in all cheddared cheese, which is produced by first milling discrete curd pieces and the subsequently pressing them in a semi-dry stage.